MADISON — Wisconsin continued its spring practice period Tuesday morning, returning indoors to the McClain Center. BadgerBlitz.com was once again on hand to compile the key takeaways from the Badgers' fifth session of the spring.
After shaky start, quarterbacks sizzle
Up until Tuesday morning, we hadn't seen much of a downfield passing game from Wisconsin's quarterbacks. It had been a lot of check-downs, swing routes and timing-based concepts. In practice five, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks' coach Phil Longo gave his gunslingers the green light.
Both Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke had some outstanding throws. There were more picturesque passes Tuesday morning from the pair than there had been all spring combined. Van Dyke displayed his veteran poise and accuracy, putting gorgeous touch on several passes to the sideline with a high degree of difficulty. Quincy Burroughs and Bryson Green were on the receiving end of a few of Van Dyke's best balls.
While Van Dyke showed off his strong arm and ball placement, Locke unleashed his deep ball. Perhaps the most impressive play of the day came in skeleton drills, when Locke put a go ball on the money to Burroughs in the end zone, who completed the catch working on cornerback Jace Arnold. Several players earlier, the quarterback found true freshman slot receiver Kyan Berry-Johnson on a deep crosser for about 45 yards. The spiral was impeccable, and he hit Berry-Johnson perfectly in stride.
Again, it wasn't a flawless performance. Receivers dropped some passes early, and both quarterbacks threw interceptions either in 11-on-11s or skeleton drills. Still, it was refreshing to see the offense take more shots downfield, and have success while doing so.
